


Close Inspection

by roe87



Series: Steve/Bucky modern au's [31]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Age Difference, Airports, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Banter, First Dates, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Gay Bucky Barnes, Grumpy Bucky Barnes, Hopeful Ending, Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Silver Fox Steve Rogers, Thirsty Bucky Barnes, Twink Bucky Barnes, airport security, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29760900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roe87/pseuds/roe87
Summary: Bucky is a bored TSA agent working the VIP security checkpoint when he meets a very handsome silver fox passenger named Steve.Let the flirting commence!
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Steve/Bucky modern au's [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1350943
Comments: 41
Kudos: 195





	Close Inspection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lost_Days](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lost_Days/gifts).



"I hate everyone," Bucky declared sixteen minutes into his shift.

"Everyone?" Sharon asked, looking up from her computer monitor.

"Well, not you, obviously," Bucky said. He rested his hip against the X-Ray machine, eyes scanning the near-empty passenger lounge.

"There's literally no one else here," Sharon pointed out.

"Thank God," Bucky said.

Sharon smiled at him. "Dramatic much," she said, then went back to looking at her monitor.

"What are you doing on there?" Bucky asked her, leaning over the miniature ramp where bags would come tumbling out the X-Ray machine. "You do realise there's nothing in the machine?"

"I'm doing a training exercise," Sharon said, glancing at Bucky. "Didn't you know we had those?"

Bucky snorted dismissively. "I'm not doing extra work for nothing. I'm just going to stand here and look pretty."

Soon enough, Monica came by with a couple of passengers for them to process. Monica was the airline rep who handled VIP passengers, and this private lounge and security checkpoint was for VIPs only. So, politicians, celebrities or other public figures; basically, anyone who would get mobbed in the regular security area was brought through here to be processed in peace and quiet.

The two passengers Monica had that morning were two very boring, very pale white guys who didn't say a lot.

Bucky stood at the archway metal detector (or 'gate' as it was commonly referred to) as they came through, because if they went off he'd have to search them.

Luckily they didn't, so their processing was fast. Sharon X-Rayed their bags and coats, and then Monica whisked them off down a hall toward the boarding gates.

When Monica came back through fifteen minutes later, Bucky decided to give her some shit. "Monica, can't you bring in some hot men for a change?" he said, only half joking. "I'm dying here."

She smiled at him. "What's your type?"

"Daddies," Bucky replied. "Power tops. Beards. Boss level men, basically."

Monica laughed. "You know what, I might have someone for you later. Stand by." She winked at him before walking off, high heels clicking across the floor.

"You're the best, Mon!" Bucky called after her.

"Does this mean you don't hate everyone now?" Sharon asked.

Bucky tilted his head, considering. "Meh," he said. "Let's see what Monica brings me."

An hour later Monica came back with another older white man in tow, but this time he was exactly Bucky's type.

The man being escorted was serving silver fox, executive realness. He had a beard too, more salt and pepper than silver like his hair. He stood tall and broad, and looked like he could bench press Bucky easily. That or boss him around some.

Very much Bucky's type indeed.

Monica smiled knowingly as she escorted the passenger to the front of the X-Ray machine, showing him where to set his bags and jacket down. Sharon went to help the passenger store his jacket in a tray to keep it from getting dirty, then fed it onto the conveyor belt.

Bucky stood at the gate, waiting for the passenger to step through. And, wow, what a treat the man was without his suit jacket on. His thick arms and chest were bulging out of the tight, long sleeved shirt he wore. Bucky was so distracted staring at him that it took him a moment to realise the man was waiting on him.

Bucky pulled himself together and gestured for him to step forward. "This way, sir," he said, wand already in hand. Bucky wasn't going to waste this opportunity to feel up a passenger.

When the man had stepped through, now face to face with him, Bucky smiled and waved his wand. "I need to do a random search on you, sir."

"Sure," the man replied, voice deep and husky.

Oh, lord, Bucky had died and gone to heaven.

And the best thing was, he was totally in charge of this man for the next couple of minutes. Bucky instructed the older man to raise his arms, then carefully traced the wand along the outer lines of his body.

Nothing beeped or went off, so he was good to go.

Bucky's eagle eyes had searched for any information on his person, such as a name tag or ID, but there was nothing.

When he was done, he made sure to smile his most charming smile. "Thank you, sir," he said. "Have a great day."

"You, too," the man said, returning the smile.

He collected his jacket and bag while Monica came through the gate next, giving Bucky a knowing smile as she did. Then she escorted the passenger off down the hall.

"I haven't seen you do a proper search in weeks," Sharon commented, sounding amused. "Usually you just slap the wand over passengers a bit then tell them to go away."

Bucky smiled. "Let's just say that was one man I didn't mind standing so close to. If only all passengers looked like that. Damn."

"Bucky," Sharon said, "if all the passengers looked like that, you'd spontaneously combust."

Bucky laughed. "Fair. Would that count as dying in the line of duty?"

"No," Sharon said. "Sorry."

When Monica came back twenty minutes later on her own, Bucky pounced on her for details.

"Mon, is he gay?" Bucky asked. "Please say he's at least bi curious. Did he talk about me?"

Monica only smiled secretively. "Bucky, you know I can't tell you information about the VIPs," she said. "But I can tell you he's a diplomat, and his name is Steve."

"Yeah, Mon, I'm gonna need more than that."

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" she replied. "He'll be back through here in three days."

"What time?" Bucky asked, whipping out his phone. "Let me check my schedule."

"Late morning, probably," Monica said, walking away. "See you later."

Bucky was frantically scrolling through his weekly schedule. "We're on lates," he said, and rolled his eyes. "Fuckity fuck. I'll have to swap shifts with someone."

"Bucky, is it really that important?" Sharon chuckled. "Why don't you check Grindr first? See if he's on there."

Bucky felt as thought he'd been slapped with an epiphany. "Good idea," he said, glancing up at the security cameras to check their position. He skulked around to the other side of the X-Ray machine, because he wasn't supposed to be playing on his phone all day while on duty.

He checked Grindr standing next to Sharon's chair, and she leaned in to see the screen.

"So?" she asked.

"I'm checking," he said, scanning the nearest profiles. "Ugh, no. Doesn't look like it."

"Try Tinder, then," she said.

"Sharon, you're a genius." Bucky closed Grindr and opened Tinder. He adjusted the settings to search for nearest only, and over the age of thirty.

It was hard to judge men's ages by hair alone, and Bucky figured that hunky Steve could be somewhere above thirty and below fifty. That was just a guess though.

Now he had the search parameters, he started swiping through profiles. Unfortunately being a busy airport in a big city, there were a lot of profiles. "Ugh," he groaned, swiping at a rate of knots. "I'll get repetitive strain injury like this."

"Maybe he's straight, then?" Sharon said, as Bucky groaned again.

"No!" he wailed. "That would be so unfair."

"Cheer up," Sharon told him. "It's lunch in ten."

~~

Unfortunately Bucky couldn't find anyone to swap shifts with him on such short notice, so he had to do his late shift as normal.

This meant he didn't see hunky Steve the diplomat come back through on his return flight, but even if Bucky had been around it would've been hard to see Steve on the way back in. The arrivals didn't need checking and they were escorted down a private hallway to the taxi rank.

He supposed it wasn't meant to be.

However his horoscope predicted he would be receive good news within a week, and luck just happened to smile upon him a few days later.

It was another boring afternoon in the VIP checkpoint when Monica came by on her own, smirking like she knew something.

"Guess who I'm escorting this afternoon," she said, waggling her eyebrows at Bucky.

"Jimmy Hoffa," Bucky said dryly.

"No, not quite," Monica sing-songed. "Steve the diplomat."

Bucky perked up immediately. "Oh?" he said, falling into step beside Monica. "What time?"

"In about..." She checked her watch. "Two, maybe three hours."

"You're killing me, Mon," Bucky said, and went back to his X-Ray machine. She laughed at him as she walked away.

"Have you got time to powder your nose?" Sharon teased.

"And then some," Bucky said with a sigh. "Have you got concealer?"

Sharon eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"

"I need to hide my dark circles. Look at me!" Bucky gestured at his face.

"Bucky, they aren't that bad," Sharon said. "I'll take you to my favorite make-up counter at lunch. They can touch you up for free."

Bucky pulled a face. "Hmmm. Alright. Can we go test out the colognes? I need something to knock a man dead."

Sharon snort-laughed. "Always a great come on, knocking a man dead."

During their lunch hour, they went into the airside duty free lounge.

Sharon took Bucky over to the vegan makeup counter, where Natasha gleefully touched up Bucky's face with a little concealer and a primer. Whatever a primer was.

"Hot date?" Nat asked, holding a mirror up for Bucky to inspect his face with.

"Yeah, in his head," Sharon teased, as the two women laughed.

"I'm manifesting it," Bucky retorted. He had to admit the make-up was barely noticeable, and it made him look less tired. (Shift work was a nightmare; tired eyes at twenty-five.) "Thanks, Nat. I'll have to do this every lunch break."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Not unless you buy something."

They left Natasha to get back to her work, and headed over to the perfume section. Tony was the rep for cologne, and he enthusiastically sprayed a dozen different scents onto paper strips for Bucky and Sharon to sniff.

Sharon pulled a grossed out face at every scent except one, so Bucky decided to go with that one and wiped the paper strip around his neck.

"Aren't you going to buy it?" Tony asked, looking annoyed.

"Not on my salary," Bucky told him.

"We gotta go," Sharon said, tugging Bucky away. "I need to eat something."

They went and got their usual subs from the sandwich store, and took them back to the crew room to eat.

"How's life in the slow lane?" Sam, one of their colleagues asked as he joined their table.

"Bucky's about to meet his future husband," Sharon said, as her and Sam shared a laugh.

"Is it another D-list celeb?" Sam guessed.

Bucky rolled his eyes at both of them. "When I do marry a rich celeb, you'll both be jealous."

"Yes, that's so likely," Sam deadpanned. "Keep telling yourself it'll happen, Buck."

"Manifesting," Bucky said, waving his hand in the air around him. "Also manifesting you to butt out."

Sam laughed. "Wait till you get back to gen pop," he said. "And I'll take my turn in the slow lane making nice with celebs."

"Gen pop!" Sharon burst out laughing. "This isn't prison."

"Yeah, it is," Sam and Bucky said at the same time.

After lunch, Bucky and Sharon went back to their post.

The VIP lounge had a couple of businessmen types in but not Steve, sadly. Looked to be a quiet late afternoon again.

"I forgot to brush my teeth," Bucky complained, opening two sticks of gum and shoving them in his mouth.

"I wouldn't worry," Sharon said dryly. "It's not like you're going to be tonguing him at the gate."

"Mmm. Tonguing." Bucky drifted off into a daydream about kissing Steve the diplomat.

Sharon shook her head.

The next couple hours passed by slowly, with only three passengers to process. Bucky was on the lookout for Monica and Steve, but they hadn't arrived yet. Monica wasn't the only rep working, but she did get the most interesting passengers.

"What do diplomats do?" Bucky mused out loud.

"Like, their job?" Sharon replied. "They go and talk to other countries about stuff."

"Like what? For who?" Bucky asked.

"Why don't you Google it," Sharon told him.

"Meh," Bucky said. "I don't care that much."

Time dragged slowly by, but when Bucky spotted Monica enter the lounge he stood to attention.

She had Steve with her.

"Hot damn," Bucky said, and took the gum out his mouth. He looked around for somewhere to dispose of it, but there weren't any trash-cans on this side of the machine. Bucky stuck his gum on the underside of the X-Ray.

"You're disgusting," Sharon told him.

"I know," Bucky replied, smiling brightly as Monica and Steve approached the X-Ray machine. "At least my breath is minty fresh now."

Sharon got up and went to greet Monica and Steve, offering a tray for Steve's jacket.

Bucky stood where he was, waiting for them to come through the gate. This time Monica went through the gate, like she did several times a day so she was a pro and didn't set it off. She smiled at Bucky before heading to the baggage ramp to retrieve her purse and radio.

Bucky watched Steve at the front of the machine taking off his jacket and casually folding it. He was in another tight shirt, pinstripe, and looking fine as hell. He smiled politely at Sharon as she took his jacket, and then he stepped up to the gate.

"Step right through, sir," Bucky instructed him.

Steve did so, although this time the gate beeped, lights flashing along its sides.

"Oh," Bucky said, going on autopilot and gesturing to Steve to approach him. "I'm afraid you set the gate off, sir. I'm going to have to search you."

"Sure," Steve said easily. "I can't think what it would be."

He looked at Bucky as he stepped in close, and Bucky saw that his eyes were very blue.

"Uh," Bucky said, trying to focus with such a gorgeous man in front of him, "do you have any sharp items on your person?"

Steve's lips ticked up in a small smile. "No, nothing. I put everything in the tray."

"No problem, sir," Bucky replied, and raised his wand. "Let's check it out." He waved the wand back and forth over Steve's body, taking more care than he normally did.

"Found it yet?" Steve asked, standing there patiently.

Bucky smiled, as he detected a bit of sass from Steve there. "Not yet," he said cheerily. (He was more than happy to prolong this search, too.) "Must be something small. You don't have any piercings, do you?"

"Piercings?" Steve laughed lightly. "No, none of those."

Bucky glanced up at Steve then, noticed Steve was watching him closely. Bucky couldn't help a cheeky smile in return.

"They don't usually set the gate off," he explained. "Only if the jewellery is big."

"I see," Steve said. "There's definitely no jewellery on me."

Bucky waved his wand a bit higher, brushing it across Steve's impressive chest. The wand beeped, which meant he'd found whatever it was that set the gate off. Bucky waved the wand again, slower. It beeped as it went across Steve's breast pocket.

Bucky put the wand down. "You have something in your pocket, sir?"

"Gee, I don't know." Steve looked down at his chest as he stuck a hand in there to check. "Oh, shit. I do." He brought out a small lapel pin of the American flag.

Bucky smiled at the discovery. "Yeah, that'll do it."

"I haven't worn this shirt in a while," Steve explained. "I forgot it was in there."

"No problem, sir," Bucky told him, holding his hand out for the pin. "Let me take that, and you can walk back through the gate if you don't mind."

Steve gave him the pin, and did as instructed. This time, he didn't set the gate off.

"All clear," Bucky said with a smile. "Thank you, sir."

"Sorry about that," Steve replied, taking his pin back. His fingers brushed against Bucky's for one glorious moment. As he stood there fixing the pin onto his pocket, his blue eyes dropped down like he was looking at something there.

"Thanks," Steve said, looking Bucky in the eye again. "James," he added, which meant he'd checked out Bucky's ID badge.

"Call me Bucky," Bucky said, fighting a blush. "Everyone does."

"Bucky, then." Steve smiled at him. "See you round, Bucky."

He went to retrieve his jacket, flashing Bucky one last dazzling smile before he left with Monica.

Bucky watched him walk away and had to suppress his groan of want.

"Have you spontaneously combusted yet?" Sharon asked, once Steve and Monica were out of sight.

"Probably," Bucky sighed. "Do you think he noticed my cologne?"

"Considering you were all up in his face for a full five minutes?" Sharon teased. "Yeah, more than likely."

"But it didn't work," Bucky complained. "He was supposed to whisk me off my feet and ask me to marry him."

"Bucky, you watch too many rom coms," Sharon said. "This is real life."

When Monica came back fifteen minutes later, she came straight over to Bucky before he had a chance to pester her for details about Steve.

"When's your shift over?" she asked.

Bucky checked his watch. "In four hours, but I have a break in thirty. Why?"

She grinned at him. "Well, maybe you should spend your break airside. Steve's flight has been delayed and he's having a drink in the lounge."

"Ooh?" Bucky perked up immediately. "Oh, wait, the business lounge? I can't get in there."

"No, I meant the airside lounge," Monica replied. "He's in a public bar. That vintage one with the old timey music."

"Oh, I see." Bucky grinned wide. "Thanks, Mon. I'll be sure to name our first child after you."

Monica laughed and shook her head. "Okay, sure. Have fun!"

"Oh, God," Sharon said, as Monica left. "Are you going to stalk him?"

"More than likely," Bucky replied. "Didn't you see the way he was eye-fucking me during that search? Game _on._ My horoscope was right."

"Riiiight," Sharon said, clearly not believing him. "How about you go manifest some coffee before the next passenger comes in?"

By the time their break rolled around, Bucky was caffeined up and ready to go.

He dashed back to the crew room and put his leather jacket on, covering up his work shirt.

"Good luck," Sharon told him, as he dashed off again via the airside exit.

Bucky walked briskly through the duty free lounge, heading to the eatery upstairs where the bars were. Luckily it was quiet, not that many passengers about in the early evening.

When he reached the stylish old timey bar Monica had said Steve was in, Bucky took a breath and ran his hand through his hair. He walked inside casually, and had a look around.

He spotted Steve sitting at the end of the bar and Bucky's heart did a little skip.

Okay, Barnes, he told himself, play it cool.

He walked over there, placing himself at the bar two seats' distance from Steve. He motioned to the bartender and asked for a club soda.

"Bucky?" Steve said, having noticed him, while Bucky pretended he'd only just noticed Steve.

"Steve!" he replied, maybe a touch too enthusiastic. "Hey! Waiting for your flight?"

"Yeah." Steve smiled at him. "Well, there's a delay, but hopefully not much longer."

Bucky smiled back at him, and when the bartender brought over his club soda Steve told him to put it on his tab.

"Thanks," Bucky said. "Mind if I join you?"

Steve indicated the stool next to him. "Please do. Have you finished your shift?"

"Sadly not yet," Bucky said with a laugh. "It's quieter in here than my crew room."

Steve nodded like he understood that. "Yeah, that's why I picked this bar. It's quiet and relaxing."

"Where you flying out to?" Bucky asked. "Or is it top secret?"

This made Steve grin in amusement. "Not secret," he said. "I'm going to Brussels first, Antwerp after that. Just a week."

"Sounds nice," Bucky said. "I've never been out of the states," he added, which was true. It must be nice to travel."

"Yeah, it's great." Steve took a sip of his drink, a bourbon. "The hotel rooms they give me are incredible. Some rooms have their own hot tubs in the bathroom."

"Whoa." Bucky laughed. "That sounds epic. I hope you make full use of those."

Steve tilted his head in consideration, his eyes flicking up and down Bucky's form.

And just like that, Bucky's Gaydar went _ding-ding-ding_.

"There's certainly a few things I'd like to do in a hot tub," Steve said lowly. "If I had the opportunity."

Oh, jackpot, Bucky thought.

"Same, same," Bucky said. "Like, personally? I think me in a hot tub would be my grand ascension to final form. You know what I mean?"

Steve smiled at him like he was picturing that in his mind. "Maybe you'd like to try it out sometime?"

"Me?" Bucky replied. "In a hot tub? Yes, I mean, I totally would."

Steve reached in his pocket, taking out a business card. "Here." He slid the card along the bar with his finger. "If you want to get together sometime, give me a call."

"Thanks." Bucky smiled, picking up the card and turning it round in his hands. Steve Rogers, it said, and listed a phone number and email address. "Oh, I don't have a passport, though. I can't fly anywhere."

"Well," Steve said, smiling, "the good thing is, they have hot tubs in American hotels too."

"Oh." Bucky grinned, feeling very blessed right now. "Great! That's good to know."

**Author's Note:**

> And they had a hot tub date and lived happily ever after, the end! :D
> 
> Thanks for reading! If you liked it please leave me a comment! 
> 
> Ps. I haven't flown for a few years so I'm sure some of the tech or procedure has changed by now BUT I DON'T CARE lol. It's fiction.


End file.
